Toddler learning - letters and numbers

I used to buy Galt toys ,lots of educational stuff there,when I ran a playgroup we had to fund raise to get them as they were quite expensive .I dont know if they are still around but they were certainly well made and useful for the stage you are at with your GC

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Or puzzles like these?

DGS2 is almost 3. He loves the books "10 little ...." dinosaurs, pirates, monsters etc and can also get "10 little DGS2" though more expensive. They count down and each page has different things to count - jellies, spiders, ghosts, poo (dinosaur book) and so on. At the end there is a page for counting with 1, 2 3 whatever the theme is up to 10. Also great fan of Orchard Games although he has his own "take" on some of them. DD1 uses these games a lot. She teaches P1 (5 year olds - Scotland). She also uses jars with plastic tweezers and pom poms. You put the pom poms into the jars - can be counting, colours, sizes and helps fine motor skills as well. She gets supplies from eBay, Hobbycraft and her local woods.

'Numberblocks' are too big to swallow, available on Amazon and there are Cbeebies programmes available and DVDs.

On a different tack, apparently now Early Years children are taught upper case letters too as they are spikier and so, easier to learn to write.

I would recommend Numberblocks on BBC I player in addition to all teaching aids recommended.

How about the first word spoken by the " Royal" Archie ?

Crocodile ! Yes. not mama/ dadda, but Crocodile.
A scholar in the making. I wonder what prompted that

I make a point of never buying my GC educational toys - I go for fun and imagination. Time enough for acquiring formal knowledge. They are only tiny once and their greatest asset at this age is their imagination and sense of fun. Buy him a whoopee cushion or some tools for playing in mud!

How about using colouring for pencil skills? It helps to practice those fine motor skills they will need later for writing.

Taking children to the library is a great way to get them out. Get them talking about what they can see, touch, hear, smell and even taste (if you are in the countryside). I spent time with the GCs talking about plants and trees, what could be touched and what not to touch. The library provided access to lots of different books. Some libraries used to run story time or singing groups for pre-school children.

Most children are like sponges especially if they are interested. CBeebies as already mentioned has learning for pre-schoolers. Lots of playing with paper, felt tips, glue and scissors etc. plus cooking. In fact anything that will encourage personal development.

Just have fun with whatever you decide to do with your GCs.

My GCs loved Number blocks and Alpha blocks. You can buy the blocks.